Indissian Dread Guard
Indissian Dread Guard The Indissian Dread Guard (or simply "The Dread Guard") was an elite unit of soldiers in the Indissian Empire that was established in 560BC, when Indissia was still little more than a powerful city-state. The Dread Guard were dressed in black and dark grey, their armour fashioned into grotesque designs, and they were designed to not only be excellent soldiers but extremely terrifying to the enemy. They were the personal retinue of the Indissian King and followed his orders, but the actual operations of the Guard were commanded by six to ten of the most intelligent veterans of the Guard known as Dread Lords. In some sense, they were slave soldiers, but while they were perpetually bound to the King they were not his personal property. The Dread Guard were used not only in battle but for special operations and as a kind of secret service, undertaking highly dangerous military missions and assassinating important figures. They also served as guards for the King, his family and the highest priests, and they served a role similar to the Imperial Inquisition in that they took the leading role in slaying various supernatural monstrosities, although their general attitude towards monsters and demons was far more murderous and they were unlikely to be inclined to spare any of them. The Dread Guard was comprised of poor, often homeless and often orphaned male children between the ages of nine and thirteen who were taken into military service and trained both rigorously and brutally to become exceptional warriors, given a complex mix of steroids that made them grow fast and strong, but rendered them permanently infertile. Their training was psychological as well as physical - they had to undertake many brutal tests in order to strip away their humanity and empathy, which would ensure that they would remain steadfast in the heat of battle and ensure that they would actually kill whoever they were told to. Many of the children died or were crippled in the arduous training process, and most were mentally scarred by their experience - however those that survived but did not make the cut due to injury or simply not being good enough were given a small but steady income for life. The Dread Guard were ordered to never take prisoners unless explicitly told otherwise by the King himself, and they had a habit of treating any prisoners they did take exceptionally badly. This was widely seen as dishonourable even by fellow Indissians, but it greatly helped develop their terrifying reputation. The Dread Guard were one of the reasons why Indissia experienced military success against its enemies, as they were not only very capable soldiers but they eventually developed such a reputation that there are accounts of groups of soldiers surrendering merely at the sight of them. There is no recorded instance of the Dread Guard ever surrendering to the enemy. However, they were often under-utilised, as many Kings were not prepared to risk putting them into dangerous situations, especially not those that risked them surrendering or being badly beaten which would wipe away their terrifying reputation.